A Fall Walk in the Suburbs

Today I can hear the rain dripping down the drain pipe, but yesterday was one of those perfect fall days. You know, the sun was shining, the air was crisp, and all that. My mom worked on getting the yard ready for winter and tidied the patio. I took the kids for a walk up the road.

Joshua road his bike. He diligently pedaled all the way up the gentle slope and then managed to make it back down without panicking or falling.

Lucy loves life!

Twirling!

I love the changing seasons. I've kept a journal since I was 10 and I've probably written pages and pages about the trees "changing from the full green garb of summer to the brilliant red and yellow gowns of fall." Strangely I don't think I used the clothing analogy when talking about winter.

Nowadays I don't feel like there's as much to say. I guess I feel like I've already said it. That and I'm not sure I'm ready for a season change. Fall is underway and people are beginning to make holiday plans. I'm not ready for the year to end yet! Wasn't it just last month that we were making New Year's resolutions? If the year is drawing to a close then that means I don't have next week or next month to work on those.

A year is just a unit of time. And we are near the end of this one. But it all comes down to now. I only have today. So I'm off to cook about 40 pounds of pork (for the church potluck) and dig out our costumes for the annual Reformation Night celebration. Hopefully those still fit!

Worldview, Genesis 1-3, and a Very Inspiring Woman

On Wednesday night I met Marsha Brim. What an inspiring woman! We had a little seminar at Exodus during which she showed us how to use her course to teach worldview to our children. From the way she brings everything back to learning about God to the way she teaches a way of categorizing worldviews in a way that makes sense, her course sounds like an excellent way to prepare kids ready to face the world as Christians, both in word and deed. I wish more people could have made it to the seminar.

And yet, I'm glad my parents, one father, Eli and I got her all to ourselves. The conversation we ended up having was encouraging and inspiring to us and I think to her too. She has been reading Genesis 1-3 for years and using "narrative theology" to interpret the Scriptures without even knowing that there is such a method. She just discovered Peter Leithart's Deep Exegesis a while ago and was excited to find other people (scholars at that!) seeing the same patterns and themes in the Bible that she was. I loved hearing her show how the whole Bible is the story of Genesis 1-3 worked out and how the seven days of creation are a theme that shows up again and again. I loved this because it's what I've grown up hearing from Paster Tuuri, James Jordan, and others. But she hasn't read Jordan or listened to Paster Tuuri preach. Maybe this stuff really is in the Bible or something! And to hear her talk was to see the Lord using her to do great things for the Kingdom. When she spoke it was from her heart. I feel like I've found a kindred spirit.

Thank you, Marsha Brim, for driving up here from northern California and thank you for giving your presentation to just five of us, four of whom you had already been talking to over dinner. It was a pleasure to meet you and I look forward to seeing what God has in store for you.

Mist, Vapor, Vanity

It's fall. I still haven't worn a coat anywhere and I haven't gotten out any sweaters, but there's no use denying it. Fall is here.

Right now the ground is cold and wet but the sun is shining warmly, brightly. This means that little wisps of mist are floating off the street, the porch stairs, and the roof of the backyard shed that I can see from my window. I remember how weird and eery that looked to me as I child, like everything was smoldering. If I had a camera I would take a picture of it and make this post more visually interesting. But, vanity of vanities, vapor of vapors, I bought a camera and then I lost it.

Speaking of vanities, I deactivated my Facebook account. Goodbye world, it was fun while it lasted. But the world that I have right here within these four walls is growing and changing and learning faster than I can keep up and I don't want to miss out.